Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as GBX 103.30 and last traded at GBX 103.25, with a volume of 932830813 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 101.40.

Key Headlines Impacting Lloyds Banking Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Lloyds Banking Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets: Deutsche Bank raised its target from GBX 100 to GBX 110 and maintained a “buy” rating, while JPMorgan raised its target to GBX 117 — signals that brokers expect stronger upside. Deutsche Bank upgrade JPMorgan target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Group set to report a rise in annual profits despite a hit from the motor-finance arm — suggests core retail and margins are strong enough to offset that business-line weakness. Profit outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Funding / balance-sheet management: Lloyds will call and redeem €500m of senior floating-rate notes one year early — reduces near-term interest exposure and signals excess liquidity or proactive liability management. Debt redemption announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic tech investment: Lloyds is scaling up AI targets and planning broad workforce AI training — potential medium-term efficiency gains, but benefits are incremental and execution-dependent. AI training article
• Neutral Sentiment: Broker maintains neutrality: UBS reaffirmed a “neutral” rating with a GBX 103 target — shows mixed analyst views despite some upgrades. UBS rating
• Negative Sentiment: Motor-finance pressure: the motor-finance business is a visible drag and could weigh on near-term profits / credit costs if conditions worsen — a risk to watch in the upcoming results. Motor finance headwind
• Negative Sentiment: Branch closures: Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland plan to close 71 UK branches in 2026 — reduces costs but may hurt customer access/reputation in local markets. Branch closures list

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 102 to GBX 117 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 84 to GBX 97 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Shore Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a GBX 84 target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 100 to GBX 120 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 100 to GBX 110 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 104.33.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 0.2%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is GBX 96.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 87.71. The stock has a market capitalization of £59.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported GBX 6.30 EPS for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 16.66%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current year.

About Lloyds Banking Group

We are the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with over 25 million customers and a presence in nearly every community.

The Group’s main business activities are retail and commercial banking, general insurance and long-term savings, provided through the largest branch network and digital bank in the UK, with well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows.

Our shares are quoted on the London and New York stock exchanges and we are one of the largest companies in the FTSE 100 index.